Norman Yakeleya

Thank you. I’ll keep my comments very brief too. The positions within the GNWT are growing each year. It seems like we’re adding new positions to our workforce. I’m not too sure what the plan is. Is there a time when I’m going to say we need to cut back on positions or hold it or to put a freeze on it? Also to continue to support the Aboriginal people into the government’s senior management into those type of positions.

I look forward to some of the initiatives that the Minister has embarked on. I think there are some real good ones. Laying out a plan, there are the baby boomers that are going...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. If it is possible, if I could ask the Minister if he has reports as to indicate the miners or the workers that were released were the southern workers that the Minister indicated when they had the economic downturn and that certainly when mining companies changed their operations to an underground mine, then maybe that is a factor that showed that they need more skilled workers there that contribute to hiring more southern workers to operate their mines at a different level of operations.

Mr. Chair, I want to ask on the Growing Forward Project, the department has been very successful in the Sahtu with the potatoes. I think we are the spud capital of the Northwest Territories now with a good initiative last year in Norman Wells. I want to ask the Minister if the communities also wanted to look at other agricultural initiatives, can we start raising chickens and other birds like that so they become the capital of the Sahtu in terms of having those types of industries in our region to cut down the high cost of having chickens bought in the store there, or turkeys? Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to say to the Minister and staff that we look forward to the increased support that this department is going to receive for the trappers. That just says that we believe in trapping and the way of life and support the Aboriginal trappers’ way of life in general, in terms of the value that the trapping industry brings to the Northwest Territories. I know our furs in the North are one of the most sought after in the world in terms of the quality that we bring to the industry down south, and it speaks a great volume and we have increased the dollars to this...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I am so happy we got onto this page here, Mr. Chairman, because it talks about Community Harvesters Assistance Program and I understand the community of Deline was asking for some assistance as the impacts of the caribou and there was a request in to help with the community such as some support went to the Tlicho community on caribou hunts. I want to ask the Minister if the community of Deline have initiated any kind of contact with his office as we already had some discussions with the Minister of Environment and Natural Resources on this issue here to help with the...

The reason why I am asking is just for clarification and the Minister of Health is well aware of this issue and hoping to get a briefing tomorrow with her department that the company that is a Sahtu beneficiary has been operating with our health board in the Sahtu. Their contract, according to them, was taken from them and Stanton is taking over the contract and going to be tendering out that work in the Sahtu. It seems like Stanton is not respecting the memorandum of understanding in this process here, so I am hoping again to get an update from the Minister tomorrow on this issue here. It...

Thank you, Mr. Chairman. The question I have for the Minister is on the memorandum of understanding with the government and the Sahtu Secretariat. I want to ask the Minister if this memorandum of understanding document is distributed to agencies and boards also outside of the Sahtu region that had to deal with businesses in the Sahtu.

Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The Minister indicated that he plans to sit down with the Minister of Education. Would the Minister look at, again, the review more comprehensively and see if some of the things that they do with the Take a Kid Trapping Program that they would look at building some credits to this program here so that will be going towards a Grade 12 diploma?

So in a few months I certainly hope we have a lively debate on this program review in terms of this issue. Hopefully we’ll formulate a new policy in terms of the harvesters and the land and area that we’re talking about that we’d see it before the end of the life of this government. If this has been an issue in the past, I can only imagine the departments have been working quite creatively to put this compensation to test in terms of working with the harvesters on areas that have been damaged by forest fires. Thank you.

Mr. Speaker, I want to ask the Minister of ITI, in terms of the success for the program Take a Kid Trapping, if he would sit down with his colleagues and see if they would review this program to see how they could include it into curriculum into the schools, into a more permanent core curriculum or program that would support our students to learn both on the land and in school, in terms of their education.